Digital Pakistan: Internet users can register and use websites in Urdu

ISLAMABAD: Internet users in Pakistan will now be able to register and use internet domains in Urdu as the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) Board has passed a resolution on the Internet Registry.

Minister for IT Anusha Rahman on Friday in a statement mentioned that this is an important milestone to proliferate the digitalisation in Pakistan through local content. The ministry had submitted a request in December 2016 for the internet registry in Urdu after consultation with stakeholders.

Ms. Rehman lauded the efforts of the Ministry of IT, multi-stakeholder technical committee members on internet registry and National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) on achieving this major internet governance initiative. She said the resolution is a remarkable headway towards ‘Digital Pakistan’.

ICANN is responsible for managing and coordinating the Domain Name System (DNS) to ensure that every address is unique and all internet users can find valid Internet addresses. The NTC will be the manager for the new internet registry.

This will revolutionise internet accessibility for Urdu language users as internet domains in native language will make it navigation much easier.

It will help local citizens to access web addresses using Urdu Language, and provide an advantage for non- English speaking Internet users to target local markets and for local promotions.

The rising trend of e-commerce in Pakistan will enormously benefit from this development by eliminating the language barriers.